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Saturday, July 15, 2017

Merry Me At Willoughby Close Release Blitz + Giveaway

Description

Welcome to Willoughby Close… a charming cluster of cozy cottages, each with a story to tell and a happy ending to deliver…

Alice James has been a drifter her whole life, working her way through several foster homes before ending up in Wychwood-on-Lea, feeling anchorless and invisible. When a chance encounter leads to Alice accepting a position as a caretaker and companion to Lady Stokeley, she starts to feel as if she might finally be able to put down some roots and live the way other people do.

Then, Lady Stokeley’s nephew, city banker Henry Trent, storms into Willoughby Manor, seeming to find fault with everything, including Alice. As the next in line to the manor and title, he threatens to upturn everything she’s started to build. But Henry is hiding his own secret fears and weaknesses, ones he’s desperate for no one to discover. A surprising and inconvenient attraction that simmers between them leaves Alice feeling more confused than ever, and Henry torn between duty and desire, fear and love.

When circumstances become even more difficult, both Alice and Henry must decide who they really are, and what they are willing to fight for. Could Alice possibly the next Lady of Willoughby Manor?

Excerpt:

Now that the final bank holiday of the summer was over, it truly felt like autumn, the breeze rustling through the lime trees decidedly nippy. Ellie and Harriet were both getting ready for their children to head back to school, and there was that hint of crispness in the air that made Alice think of school days and cold, dark nights.

Alice shivered, wishing she’d brought a coat and not just a cute little cardigan, and then stiffened in surprise when Henry dropped his blazer over her shoulders.

“You’re cold,” he said gruffly, and then started walking.

“Thank you,” Alice murmured.

His blazer smelled of his cologne and was warm from his body. She tried not to think about that, because if she did, she’d start to blush. Not that Henry would be able to see in the darkness.

They walked in silence, Marmite snuffling alongside them, and as they got closer to Willoughby Close Alice started to feel nervous, which was foolish. It wasn’t as if Henry was going to try to kiss her or something. She was being an absolute ninny, thinking there might be some spark between them, just because she felt it.

Of course she felt it. Henry was an extremely attractive man and she was… well, she was naïve and inexperienced and depressingly innocent. How could she not be affected by him? He undoubtedly saw her as nothing but a shirt-tailed kid who needed to be tucked up in bed… and not that way. Goodness, where was her mind going?

“Colin did a nice job with these cottages,” Henry remarked as they walked into the darkened courtyard while Alice fumbled for her key.

“Colin…?”

“Colin Heath. He’s the one who renovated the cottages.”

“Was it your idea, then, to do them up?” Alice asked, more to just keep talking and not seem quite so nervous. She’d thankfully found her key and now clutched it in one sweaty hand.

“Yes.” Henry paused as they came to a halt in front of number four. “I would like the estate to be self-sustaining without resorting to safari parks or naff railways.”

“Do the cottages manage that?”

He let out a rather hollow laugh. “Not even close.”

They peered at each other in the darkness; from the light from a sliver of moon, Alice couldn't read the expression on Henry’s face. Not that she’d have been able to read it if it was blazing midday. He could be aggravatingly inscrutable when he chose to be.

“Well.” She swallowed, fearing the sound was audible. “Thank you for everything. It was a lovely day.”

“Was it?” Henry sounded sceptical and he stepped closer, making Alice’s heart flip-flip like a dying fish as she breathed in the expensive scent of his cologne. Her senses started to short circuit. She really, really needed to get a grip.

“Do you want to unlock the door?” Henry asked after a pause, and he sounded very slightly impatient.

With a rush of horror, Alice realized she’d just been staring at him like the complete ninny she so obviously was, and Henry had been waiting for her to open the door. Good grief.

“Right, of course,” she mumbled, and kept her head ducked low as she jabbed the key towards the lock and then, humiliatingly, dropped it. Marmite sniffed it and then turned away, and with the smallest of sighs, Henry crouched down and scooped it up. “Shall I?” he asked and Alice wittered something, she knew not what, while he slotted the key into the lock, turned it easily, and then opened the door.

“Goodnight, Alice,” he said, and his tone was an embarrassing mix of exasperation and gentleness. So he really did see her as a child, and why shouldn’t he? She was acting like one.

“Goodnight,” Alice whispered, and Henry waited until she’d stepped inside the cottage, pulling Marmite behind her, before turning around and heading back through the darkness to Willoughby Manor.

About Kate Hewitt

Kate Hewitt is the author of over 60 novels of romance and women’s fiction. An American ex-pat and former diehard New Yorker, she now lives in a market town in South Wales with her husband, five children, and overly affectionate Golden Retriever. To learn more about Kate, check out her website kate-hewitt.com, or join her Facebook Kate’s Reads.

Giveaway

£10 Amazon giftcard International (Kate will convert the amount depending on the location of the winner)